And you are the Mother
by Summer Leigh Wind
Summary: Sitting there in the dirt, Pitch Black's thoughts wonder back to her missing daughter; she wonders if the girl hates her for what she's become, (she does). Female!Pitch Black. One-Shot.


_**And you are the Mother**_

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She is the monster in the darkness, hiding in your closet, in the space beneath your bed; however, she is more than this. Pitch Black may not remember being young, being in love, or mothering a child; all she knows is she came to existence one night a great long time ago. But, impressions, feelings, mannerisms hint to her that she_ was _someone else; someone who was young, who loved, who mothered a babe, who gave up their life to ensure the life of her child. Most days, Pitch can get by with this information, it doesn't bother her. But other days...it brings her near to insanity with the tears and rage; a rage so powerful it could cause her to raise the world if no one is there to stop her (which has happened). What bothers her most of this shadow-life is the missing child. The ache it causes; the phantom heft of a child that weighs her arms, the perpetual tingle of her cheeks from an affection no longer received, the tittering laughter of a girl that she cannot find no matter how hard she searches. It's debilitated her, this missing babe; makes her sink to the ground and sob. She's at times tried to push past this, but the loss of a child (even one she can't _remember_) is something no one can ever forget.

It is one of those days, she realizes when looking down at the round face of a small girl and can only think of caressing the undefined features and pressing innocent kisses to her eyes, nose and cheeks. Against better judgment, she does so and when she pulls away to see a smile on the freckled face; Pitch feels a warmth burble in her chest and through her veins. Fingers flitting through her hair, Pitch wonders; maybe...maybe she doesn't need to scare children. Something vicious rips at her then, because those blond lashes flutter open and girl _sees _her and before the woman can do anything the child is _screaming. _Pitch is gone even before her mother or father can reach her.

Wandering the streets of the world, the Queen of Nightmares cries out her pains; makes sure the whole of the darkened world is left seeking shelter from her shrieks and wails. She doesn't care who sees her, not the Man in the Moon, the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy or even Jack Frost; because her heart _aches _for the bundle she once held in her arms, for the toddler who pressed a thousand kisses upon her cheeks and for the girl who laughed so beautifully. Eventually collapsing on her knees, Pitch curls in around herself; tiny feet that no longer exist kicking her empty womb.

A hand lays gently on her shoulder; jolting, Pitch Black looks to see Mother Nature beside her. "What are you doing here?" She chokes.

Hand stroking her midnight locks, the other woman doesn't say anything at first. "You could here your anguish across the globe," she says eventually.

Sniffing into the dirt underneath her. Pitch whispers, "How can you miss someone you can't even remember?"

Mother Nature stills in her petting. "Because you loved them," she finally answers in hushed, honest tones.

Shifting so she can stare easily into the other's face she admits with great misery. "I wish I hadn't."

The younger woman gasps, "How can you say that? I-She _loved _you too..."

Looking at her empty arms, Pitch murmurs, "I shan't ever hold her again, I shan't see her, hear her, smell her; I won't have her ever again!" She howls. "My babe is no longer mine and dare I utter it? Dead!"

Mother Nature's green tinged fingers hover just above her wrists. "I could give you another, I could-"

"No!" The shadow-woman snaps, effectively cutting nature's mother off. "It won't be the same, they won't be _mine_!" Voice wavering into a whimper, she gazes into the other woman's beetle-black eyes. "I want _her, _not some replacement."

Fingers finally wrapping around the Pitch's wrists, Mother Nature searches the other in earnest and offers, "What if I could tell you she is alive? Well? Content? Would you believe me?"

The Queen of Nightmares laughs-it is bitter, but not truly cruel. "I wouldn't believe you," she confesses, "No matter how much I may want it, she is of that first world- the one I turned into nothing but a _rock_."

The younger woman looks as if she has something to say, but the courage leaves her and she looks away. "You are likely right," she agrees. "It pains me to see you so hurt-"

"I've never understood why," Pitch buts in, a sneering smile on her gray lips.

Jaw setting, Mother Nature pushes on. "I just want you to be well, not to feel the need to inflict others because of your wounds."

"My dear," the shadow-woman purrs, "That will _never _happen; it's only a matter of time before I get my way and this world is like all the others."

Standing up, the nature spirit glares into the distance. "It hasn't happened yet-I have my doubts your wish will ever turn fruitful." The woman remarks.

The other woman laughs-it's brittle and angry. "You think so, do you? I guess we'll just have to wait a while longer to see who's right," she suggests with a savage edge to it all.

Casting the once-mother a cold glance, Mother Nature thins her lips to that of a blade of grass. "Indeed," she concurs and with that she disappears.

Sitting there in the dirt, Pitch Black's thoughts wonder back to her missing daughter; she wonders if the girl hates her for what she's become, (she does).

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**I wanted to do some serious angst with Pitch about his kid, but I thought a mother would be better suited for this kind of ruminating-so, Female!Pitch Black. What do you guys think? Is it good? Bad? Does Pitch seem rather in-character even as a woman?**

**Thank you for reading, please review! :)**


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